Re-negotiation of the International Space Station Agreements—1993–1997

Abstract

During the Spring of 1993, at the request of the US President, the Space Station partners, under the leadership of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), undertook a fundamental redesign of the Space Station and the manner by which NASA would manage the program. Coincident with the 1993 redesign, NASA initiated discussions with the Russian Federation with the view to Russia becoming a partner in the Space Station Program. This resulted in the partners (the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan) issuing, on December 6, 1993, an invitation to Russia to enter into negotiations to become a partner in the International Space Station Program. Originally, the negotiations were intended to center exclusively around the changes required to the government and agency-level Space Station Agreements to bring Russia into the partnership, and to reflect the changes resulting from the 1993 redesign. After the commencement of the negotiations it became necessary to also reflect changes due to restructuring of the European and Canadian partners’ programs, and various desires of the partners to confirm in the legal framework new provisions for dealing with cost control and common operations activities. This paper provides a summary of the complex legal and programmatic multinational negotiations that took place between 1993 and 1997 on a multilateral Intergovernmental Agreement and four bilateral space agency-level Memoranda of Understanding. This paper puts these most recent negotiations in the context of the first set of agreements which were signed in September 1988, explains the process the original partners put in place for the 1993–1997 Round of negotiations, and the substantive issues that resulted together with the solutions agreed. The paper captures in one document the most relevant aspects of these important international negotiations, and complements those papers previously presented by the authors at the 45th and 47th Congresses of the International Astronautical Federation. 1 1 “Expanding the International Space Station Program Partnership—An International Partner's Perspective” by Graham Gibbs, Canadian Space Agency, IAA-94-IAA.3.2.638. 2 2 “International Negotiations: The International Space Station Agreements” by Lynn F.H. Cline, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, IAA-96-IAA.3.1.03.